LIC Packaging S.P.A. (Verolanuova) is the first Italian printer upgrading its Goepfert press with Baldwin’s ProTech Flex cleaning system
11/10/2010
Interview with Plant Manager Mr. Piero Bertoldo
LIC Packaging S.P.A., Verolanuova, Italy
October 2010
Background of LIC
The family Bertoldo started its typographic activity in 1952 gaining significant experiences in the typographic print and later on in the lithographic print. In 1982 LIC PACKAGING was founded with an orientation to the corrugated board market while still maintaining its traditional business in the paper converting industry.
Over the years the business grew steadily and expanded also into the packaging and corrugated cardboard business. In 1982 they started to produce cardboard and corrugated boards by themselves.
From 1998 to 2002 LIC increased its activities co-operating with other European manufacturers for paper and boards to be able to serve multinational customers with high quality printed cardboard and corrugated boards products.
On several sheet-fed presses with five colours plus varnish they are producing high quality products. In addition they also have one Göpfert RDC Evolution HBL flexo press with five colours and varnish. LIC is well known in the packaging market for its high quality of direct flexographic printing onto corrugated boards. The product range varies from food trays and master boxes to large packaging and displays.
Upgrade to ProTech Flexo:
What was the reason for this investment?
The Göpfert Evolution press is producing highest quality printing results. Securing best printing quality at all times requires regular cleaning of the flexo plates to avoid dots and particles on the print. And because of the complexity of the press, manual cleaning of the plates during the printing process means a lot of downtime and requires manpower. In the past we have had to clean manually by hand each flexo plate even if we only had a short stop due to problems in the infeed or outfeed area. Each cleaning stop meant approx. 20 minutes of washing time.
With the Baldwin cleaning system for the flexo plates this can all be done automatically. The press needs just to stop the printing process and the cleaning process then starts immediately and parallel on all printing units. It takes only three minutes for the cleaning and drying of the plates. And due to the very good drying only three sheets wastes occur before the printed product is commercially acceptable. At the end of a print job we also wash the flexo plates in the press. Because of the very good cleaning and drying there is no need for further manual operation. And the plates can be stored directly in their respective storage.
The print runs of the jobs are varying between 1.000 to 50.000 copies. During a 24- hours production schedule we are gaining up to four hours additional productive time due to the fast cleaning of the flexo plates.
And also very important is the reduction of wasted sheets. After manual cleaning of the plates we used to have between 15 and 20 wasted sheets before they were good for selling. Now this is reduced to only three sheets waste. This means a reduction on wasted boards with a value of up to Euro 130.000,00 per year. This makes it easy to calculate the return on investment for this flexo plate cleaning system.
And our experience over the last few weeks gives us great confidence in the decision we have made.
END
EDITOR'S NOTES
About Baldwin
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. is a leading international supplier of process automation equipment for the printing and publishing industries. Baldwin offers its customers a broad range of market-leading technologies, products and systems that enhance the quality of printed products and improve the economic and environmental efficiency of printing presses. Headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut, the company has operations strategically located in the major print markets and distributes its products via a global sales and service infrastructure. Baldwin’s technology and products include cleaning systems, fluid management and ink control systems, web press protection systems and drying systems and the related consumables.
In 1987, Baldwin Technology Company, Inc. was listed on the American Stock Exchange; it currently trades on the NYSE AMEX Exchange.
For further information, visit the Baldwin website at: www.baldwintech.com
Issued by:
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc.
Tel: +1 203 402 1000
Fax: +1 203 402 5500
Further information from:
Per Schröder
Baldwin Jimek
Tel: +46 40 439851, Email: per.schroder@baldwin.se
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